Home and Away Spoilers – Heath Braxton returns to Summer Bay!

Heath Braxton is set to make a surprise return to Home and Away later this year, as new spoilers suggest he gets caught up in drama with the Parata family.

The Home and Away cast and crew filmed outdoor scenes in a Sydney carpark yesterday, and residents were shocked to see a familiar face, as former cast member Dan Ewing took part in a fight scene.

Dan played Heath Braxton, one of the 4 brothers – Brax, Heath, Casey and Kyle – whose River Boy storylines dominated Home and Away for almost 6 years from 2011 until 2016.

The River Boys are a notorious gang from nearby Mangrove River, whose distinctive ‘Blood and Sand’ tattoos and love of being shirtless make them hard to miss. Their storylines saw the show take on a darker edge, with their violent activities often spilling onto the sands of Summer Bay.

Heath was last seen in Summer Bay in 2017, having followed wife Bianca back the Bay. She’d taken refuge at Irene’s place after discovering that Heath had killed Gunno, a criminal who’d previously kidnapped Casey and tried to kill Brax.

It transpired that Bianca had served him with divorce papers and left him, but he refused to sign them. He quickly spiralled downwards, turning to alcohol and collapsing at the wheel after too much booze left him with a tear to his stomach.

He soon discovered that Bianca was pregnant, but she had no desire to go through with the pregnancy after everything that had happened.

After finding a pack of abortion pills in the bin, he went to find her and took his anger out on Zac, who found himself at the receiving end of a punch.

After Bianca revealed she’d been unable to go through with the abortion, the pair eventually patched things up, and they moved back to the city.

Now 3 years later, Dan Ewing has been spotted back on the set of Home and Away! He was filming on location alongside newcomer Rob Kipa-Williams (Ari Parata) and fellow River Boy Patrick O’Connor (Dean Thompson) for scenes airing later this year.

Residents of the Sydney suburb of Riverstone had been informed that a film crew would be descending on the suburb on Wednesday to “film scenes for the Seven Network” in a local carpark, but without giving any more information on the show being filmed.

As Riverstone has previously been used to film scenes for the show, local residents suspected that it would be Home and Away and were at the location ready to see what was going on.

As the below video shows, Heath isn’t messing about when he returns to Home and Away, and quickly gets himself into a fight.

Local resident Marijana Puskarcuk was there, and witnessed the cast filming an altercation between the River Boys and the Paratas.

The scene, which was re-shot a number of times across the afternoon, saw a mustard-coloured ute pull up alongside Dean’s distinctive black and red car, with Heath Braxton stepping out. He approaches the other men, with Dean by his side.

A fight soon breaks out between Heath and another unknown male, before Dean and the Parata brothers join in the fighting.

Marijana went to watch the filming after receiving the letter from Seven, and managed to grab some photos and videos of the Mangrove River boys in action, which you can see above.

She recounted the following:

It was the same scene being re-taken for the duration of my time there. A fight involving the Mangrove River boys was being filmed at a carpark in Riverstone on the afternoon and evening of Wednesday 5th August.

Based on the vehicle line-up/groupings, the two groups involved in the altercation seemed to involve Dean Thompson and Heath Braxton on one side, and Ari and Tane Parata on the other, along with some others.

Pulling up beside Dean’s noticeably recognisable red and black vehicle, Heath exited the passenger side of a ute, and approached the other men. It is presumed that Dean and Heath are allies.

After exchanging some words, an altercation soon broke out between Heath and another male, before the remainder of the group (including Dean and the Parata brothers) began fighting with other males also.

Fans on social media were quick to dissect the photos and videos, initially sceptical that the videos actually showed Dan Ewing. However, a later post on Instagram showed Dan (Heath) posing alongside the two newcomers Rob Kipa-Williams (Ari) and Ethan Browne (Tane).

While we have no idea why Heath would be getting caught up with the Paratas, it probably isn’t a huge surprise that the two brothers end up on the wrong side of the River Boys.

Since Tane Parata arrived in Summer Bay, it’s been obvious that he’s been involved in some kind of illegal activity. He quickly rented an expensive 4-bedroom house with a pool for himself and the Paratas, saving them from homelessness, but dismissed Ari’s concerns for where the money has come from, telling him that it’s better off if he doesn’t know.

As much as Ari and Mackenzie have tried to convince him to turn his life around and leave the criminal underworld behind, it seems he’s unwilling to turn down the easy access to cash that the jobs provide.

Will his dodgy dealings cause him trouble with the well-connected gang?

Exactly how Dean gets caught up things also remains to be seen.

Dean and Colby are the newest member of the River Boys to arrive in Summer Bay, but for the past few years have had very little to do with their old gang.

Dean first arrived in Summer Bay when Ash needed help tracking down Robbo. He co-ordinated the gang of River Boys as they searched the town, with Ash eventually chasing Robbo up to the lighthouse.

However, he quickly put his past behind him and forged a more normal life for himself in Summer Bay. He found his teenage flame Willow living in the town, landed a job at Ben’s Boards and has ended up in a serious relationship with Ziggy.

While he seems content with his new laid-back existence, the arrival of Amber has thrown a spanner in the works in recent weeks, as he, Willow and Amber have been reminiscing over their wild upbringings.

With Amber set to stick around for a while, could he end up getting tempted back to the dark side?

Fans are also speculating that Heath will help Kyle and Colby escape prison, although we’ve not yet seen anything to back this theory up.

Colby is expected to run into trouble over the next few months. Ross’s body gets uncovered in episodes airing in Australia next week, leading to Detective Angelo Rosetta returning to the Bay to investigate the murder.

Could Dean call on his River Boy contacts to help get his friend out of prison?

Early August is usually when Home and Away films its season finale scenes, so based on normal filming schedules we would be seeing Heath’s return around late November/early December as part of the final scenes of the year.

However, with Covid-19 having caused an unexpected production break earlier this year, we don’t know whether the usual filming schedule is on track or whether things are slightly behind schedule, meaning Heath could potentially be on screens even earlier.

Meanwhile, the show has released a new trailer teasing the discovery of Ross’s body. Colby killed Ross at the start of 2019 and he, Bella and Dean have been keeping the secret ever since.

Next week, their secret begins to unravel as the police discover the body. Could this discovery kickstart the series of events that leads to Heath’s return?

Here’s the full spoilers for next week in Australia:

Monday 10th August (7385)

Mac confesses her feelings.

Colby and Nikau make amends.

Marilyn reluctantly accepts Alf’s offer.

Tuesday 11th August (7386)

Colby and Bella receive grave news.

Marilyn struggles to find direction.

Amber tries to understand Colby’s decision.

Wednesday 12th August (7387)

Bella struggles while Colby and Dean begin to fracture.

Nikau calls Tane out.

Thursday 13th August (7388)

Mac and Ari’s relationship deepens.

Marilyn continues to find ways to be useful.

Tane confesses his feelings for Mac.